Download the Billy Cart Physics app shared with you and explore the effect that changing the variables have on the speed of the billy cart.
Hover your mouse over the physics formulas on the left.
These simple formulas are what make this Geogebra app work!!!!!
Introduction to Geogebra
Now, you are going to become more familiar with the Geogebra app.
*Open a new window (File – New Window) in the Billy Cart Geogebra App.
*In the “input” section type y=mx+b ( this is the gradient-intercept form of a line) and Enter.
*Create sliders (for m and b)
* Investigate what happens to the line when the values of “m” and “b” are changed.(i.e smaller, larger, positive, negative, zero) and record your findings below.
m ______________________________________________________________________________
b _______________________________________________________________________________
In a similar way, create a new window for y = ax 2 + c and investigate the impact of changing the “a” and “c” values.
y = ax 2 + c defines a curve called a PARABOLA. It is a very important curve in senior maths and has many applications in industry. This curve and others will be studied later in the year.
a _______________________________________________________________________________
c _______________________________________________________________________________
Using Geogebra to create a model
* You are now going to create a similar Geogebra model to the one shown in the Billy Cart App. This will introduce you to some of the features of the Geogebra program. To do this we have a youtube clip with step by step instructions. The model looks at the flight of a ball or slingshot or cannonball into the sky. It can be quite complex and some rather difficult Physics concepts and mathematics are shown. We do not expect you to be able to follow these concepts (although some of you may be familiar with them) rather we are hoping you can follow the Geogebra steps shown in the film clip and thus become more familiar with the workings of Geogebra. The instructor in the clip can go a bit too fast so please pause and rewind if required (earphones required) and he mentions some past work at times but do not worry too much about that. Mr Lough, Mr McPherson and Mrs Murphy will be assisting so call on them if you need help. Hopefully, after 20-30 minutes or so, you will have working model, similar to the Billy Cart model displaying projectile motion.
Open a new window and follow the steps shown in the clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thdNs9jOisg
Creating the Animations
Because the video stops before the fun part begins, you can create animations for your Angry Birds game by following these instructions:
1. Click the Point on an Object tool and add a point to our curve (anywhere along it is fine).
2. Right click on the point and select Object Properties. Go to the Algebra tab and change the repeat option to Increasing.
3. Click on the Button tool and place a button somewhere on the screen and call it “Animate”. In
the Geogebra Script section, type the following, replacing “H” with whatever your point is called: StartAnimation[H]
4. Close the window and make a new button called “Stop Animation”. In the Geogebra Script section type the following: StartAnimation[False]
5. If you want to add in an angry bird image or something similar, place an image in the same way as shown in the video (ALT + click) and then click on the bottom left point and type the following, replacing H with the name of the point on the curve: (x(H),y(H))
6. To keep the image from going crazy when you animate you need to tell the bottom right hand point to stay near the first one now. Click on the bottom right hand point and type the following H with the name of the bottom left hand point: (x(H) + 1, y(H))
7. Now try expanding your model by adding new things of your own!